SERIES PREMIERE: This new series from WGN America is about the Underground Railroad – a fabulous subject for a series or miniseries. The topic is covered from three angles, from the perspectives of slaves in the 1850s seeking freedom, from a pair of white northerners helping to shelter runaway slaves, and from a white loner also sympathetic to the cause of slaves wishing to be free. Eventually, their paths, and these stories, intersect, and there are some strong performances along the way: Aldis Hodge and Jurnee Smolett-Bell as runaways, Matt Blucas as an abolitionist, Mykelti Williamson as a slave, and Reed Diamond as a vicious plantation owner. There’s also a lot of anachronism, both intentional (modern music on the soundtrack, starting with Kanye West) and accidental (a lot of dialogue that’s much too modern-sounding), and a lot of plotting you have to excuse in order to accept. But the story is such a strong one, and the mystery hidden in the old songs so fascinating, that it’s worth it. For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.